Jewish Republicans Dance On Jon Ossoff’s Grave — Gloat At J Street Loss
Karen Handel Image by Getty Images
By Nathan Guttman June 21, 2017
Now that Georgia’s dramatic special election is over, it’s time for Jewish groups to fight over bragging rights.
The Republican Jewish Coalition, which backed GOP candidate Karen Handel to the tune of $50,000, celebrated the victory with a fundraising email blast urging supporters to donate now, because “as the GA-6 election showed, Republican turn-out is the key to winning in these hard-fought races.”
The group made a point of noting that Handel’s opponent, Democrat Jon Ossoff, “earned his support from J Street by backing the Iran deal and refusing to support the Taylor Force Act.” RJC board member Phil Rosen was clearer with his gloat over the dovish lobby’s loss, tweeting: “Most important for Israel – this was a resounding defeat of J Street which raised a chunk of the $26m Ossoff raised for this election.”
J Street PAC brought in $80,000 to Ossoff’s hefty war chest, and made clear it has no regrets about the money spent. The group’s vice president of communications Jessica Rosenblum, noting that he managed to erase a 20 point lead in his district while supporting the Iran deal, openness to refugees, and U.S. involvement in Middle East peacemaking.
In fact it’s not clear whether Jewish issues played much of a role in the vote and Jewish-linked fundraising groups made up a small fraction of the nearly $60 million spent.
Contact Nathan Guttman at [email protected] or on Twitter @nathanguttman
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
